A special force of the Israeli military conducted an overnight mission and rescued two Israeli hostages held captive by Hamas in the southernmost Gazan city of Rafah, IDF officials said early on Monday.
The two hostages, identified as Fernando Marman, 61, and Louis Har, 70, were found to be in good condition and were transferred for medical examination to the Sheba Tel Hashomer hospital in Ramat Gan in Israel, officials told Haaretz. Marman and Har had been kidnapped from the Nir Yitzhak kibbutz during the October 7 attacks.
Forces from the Israel Security Agency, the Israeli police, and the IDF conducted the operation around 1 a.m. local time, a joint statement from the groups said. They liberated the pair from an apartment in Rafah.
The forces secretly showed up at the building, snuck up to the second floor, destroyed the door with explosives, and killed three terrorists guarding the two Israeli hostages, Axios reported.
Israel’s defense minister Yoav Gallant praised the mission on social media.
“In an impressive rescue operation, security forces managed to return Fernando Marman and Louis Har who were kidnapped from Kibbutz Nir Yitzhak to Israel tonight,” Gallant wrote on X early on Monday. “Together with the Commander-in-Chief and the senior command, I followed the operation from the PAK – full appreciation to the IDF, Shin Bet and IDF forces for an important operation and quality execution. We will continue to fulfill our commitment to return the abducted, in any way ????????.”
In an interview on ABC’s This Week program aired on Sunday, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke about an upcoming Israeli ground assault in Rafah, which he said has strategic importance for destroying Hamas. Netanyahu assured that the Israeli military is trying to minimize civilian casualties, saying the IDF will provide “safe passage for the civilian population” before the Rafah phase.
“Enough” of the Israeli hostages taken by Hamas in the October 7 onslaught are still alive to justify Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, Netanyahu added.
“We’re going to try to do our best to get all those who are alive back and, frankly, also the bodies of the dead,” he said.
The IDF confirmed later on Sunday that it “conducted a series of strikes on terror targets in the area of Shaboura in the southern Gaza Strip.” The strikes have since concluded. More than 1,000 Palestinians live in Rafah, a fact that Netanyahu said Hamas has exploited. Netanyahu stated that Hamas is intent on keeping civilians in harm’s way, in addition to repeating the October 7 massacre.
“Victory is within reach,” Netanyahu told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “We’re going to do it. We’re going to get the remaining Hamas terrorist battalions and Rafah, which is the last bastion, but we’re going to do it.”
Israeli military officials said last week that an estimated one-fifth of the 136 remaining Israeli hostages are dead. The Israeli military has declared at least 31 of the 136 hostages dead, according to intelligence leaked to the New York Times. During a weeklong cease-fire in November, approximately 100 hostages were returned to Israel in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners.
In December, doctors responsible for treating the released Israeli hostages confirmed to USA Today that Hamas had violently sexually assaulted “many” of the released female hostages aged twelve to 48. The hostages, they said, “came to us as patients with the trauma of those who witnessed very severe sexual assaults.”
Hamas demands the withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza as a condition for freeing the hostages. The terrorist organization is lobbying for the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the Israeli civilians. Netanyahu has repeated that Israel’s main objective is to obliterate Hamas.
“Those who say that under no circumstances should we enter Rafah are basically saying, ‘Lose the war. Keep Hamas there,’” Netanyahu said.